The Mass Analyzer for Real-time Investigation of Neutrals at Europa (MARINE)

Abstract

Presented herein is the progress on developing a new mass analyzer for analysis of the exospheres of planets, moons, and primitive bodies, such as found at Europa or Enceladus. Europa, one of Jupiter's four Galilean moons, may have a subsurface ocean plausibly containing the key ingredients for life as well as sources of chemical energy. Clues to the composition and chemical state of Europa's ocean can be found both on Europa's icy surface and in its tenuous atmosphere. Given the high scientific priority of assessing the habitability of Europa's ocean, the Europa Clipper notional payload includes a Neutral Mass Spectrometer whose purpose is to characterize the composition of ejected surface products during a series of flyby investigations. The Mass Analyzer for Real-time Investigation of Neutrals at Europa (MARINE) is capable of measuring the abundances of neutral particle species in Europa's exosphere including H_2O, O_2, CO_2, and SO_2, and determining their number density profiles at per-second sampling rates as a function of altitude above Europa's surface. MARINE will either detect tracers of potential subsurface biological activity in Europa's exosphere, or place upper limits on their surface abundances. It exceeds all requirements for the proposed investigations with margins ranging from 100 to 1000%, while remaining fully compatible with spacecraft accommodation constraints for mass, power, data volume, and field-of-view.

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